2 Days in Tangier for First Timers

Explore Tangier on a guided group walk or private tour including transport, covering highlights such as the medina, casbah, Grand Mosque, and Phoenician tombs—the latter hollowed from a seafront rock. Alternatively, see more in less time on a hop-on-hop-off-bus tour, perhaps disembarking at a medina entrance, the marina, and the Ville Nouvelle to discover its colonial-era boulevards and museums.

Indulge your foodie instincts by digging into Tangier’s cuisine. Book a cooking lesson to make staples such as couscous and tagines or bake bread in a traditional communal oven. Or, enjoy a food tour of the medina’s eateries, running goodies such as sweet pastries and mint tea past your palate.

Tangier is extra beautiful come sunset, with its silhouetted palms and glinting white buildings. Ride a camel along the sun-washed sands, or, if you’ve chosen a food tour, time it for late afternoon to end with dinner at a seafront restaurant—the perfect finale to your day.

Set out on a day trip today to see more of Morocco. Venture inland to the blue-painted town of Chefchaouen to experience its cobbled lanes and arty shops. Explore seaside Asilah, whose Portuguese ramparts enclose a blue-and-white medina, or mountainside Tetouan, with its UNESCO World Heritage Site medina.

If you didn’t take a day trip earlier, use the time left on your 48-hour hop-on hop-off ticket to explore the scenery near Tangier. Take the coastal route and hop out at the Caves of Hercules sea grottoes and the windswept headland of Cape Spartel, where a lighthouse overlooks the place where the Atlantic and Mediterranean meet.

Lock on to Tangier’s brilliant shopping opportunities this evening on a privately guided tour of the shop-filled medina. Aim for a later start and browse for last-minute souvenirs such as lanterns and pottery—just remember to haggle!